Avaaz: Empire Propaganda Mill Masquerading as Grassroots Activism

‘Activism’ and ‘human rights’ foundation Avaaz blames the Houla massacre on Assad and calls for foreign intervention. A peek into the background of Avaaz explains its pro-empire position, and who is really behind it.

The ultra-shadowy Avaaz Foundation is purportedly a non-governmental organisation that seeks to(1) “close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want.”

A mere three days after the Houla Massacre in Syria, while all parties were clamouring to figure out what had happened and who was responsible, Avaaz took the opportunity to speculatively blame the Assad government as part of an online petition campaign. What is even more disconcerting is that this ‘human rights’ organisation also made a thinly-veiled call for foreign intervention – something which would undoubtedly result in astronomical human suffering.

Using emotive and crafty language,(2) Alice Jay (Avaaz’s Campaign Director) blames Assad for the Houla massacre indirectly, by alluding to the decision of several Western governments to expel Syrian diplomats:

Dozens of children lie covered with blood, their faces show the fear they felt before death, and their innocent lifeless bodies reveal an unspeakable massacre. These children were slaughtered by men under strict orders to sow terror. Yet all the diplomats have come up with so far is a few UN monitors ‘observing’ the violence. Now, governments across the world are expelling Syrian ambassadors, but unless we demand strong action on the ground, they will settle for these diplomatic half-measures.

This is immediately followed by a thinly-veiled call for an invasion of Syria by foreign powers:

The UN is discussing what to do right now. If there were a large international presence across Syria with a mandate to protect civilians, we could prevent the massacres while leaders engage in political efforts to resolve the conflict. I cannot see more images like these without shouting from the rooftops. But to stop the violence, it is going to take all of us, with one voice, demanding protection for these kids and their families. Sign the urgent petition on the right to call for UN action now and share this campaign with everyone.

The background of Avaaz sheds light on its unequivocal pro-war and anti-Syrian position.

Avaaz – Shadowy Beyond Belief

Avaaz’s latest 990 form,(3) from 2010, raises a number of questions. Avaaz has only 16 employees, and is listed as a ‘corporation’ for the purposes of the 990 submission. Oddly, for an organisation that receives no governmental or corporate funding,(1) Avaaz received over $6.7 million in 2010, and paid its President over $180,000 as a salary (still feel good about donating?). On top of this, in 2010 Avaaz gave Res Publica (more on them later) a $100,000 grant. Avaaz is doing extremely well considering this and the fact that it was established relatively recently, in 2006. Where is all of this money coming from?

The background of Res Publica offers a glimpse into the nature of Avaaz. 24 Hours for Darfur and Darfurian Voices (using the same etymology of “Avaaz”, which means “voice” in Farsi and several middle eastern dialects) are two projects of Res Publica. These projects(5) are aimed at drawing international attention to Darfur – with a view to demonising and vilifying the Arab government of Sudan:

This is part and parcel of a long-standing Israeli policy to split Sudan along ethnic, racial, and religious lines.

Another Board member is Ruth Messinger – president of American Jewish World Service, and member of Barack Obama’s Task Force on Global Poverty and Development.

Sitting alongside Gutow and Messinger is Joan Platt, who also serves on the board of Human Rights Watch – a prolific propaganda mill that has underpinned the NATO narrative of the wars on Libya and Syria. Human Rights Watch was also funded by Zionist heavyweight George Soros who contributed $100 million in 2010.(8)

Needless to say, George Soros’ Open Society Institute is also listed as one of Res Publica’s partners.

The Chair of the ICG, Thomas R Pickering, is Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Russia, India, Israel, Jordan, El Salvador and Nigeria, and Vice Chairman of Hills & Company.

The President & CEO of the ICG is Louise Arbour – Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

What do these people have to do with the prevention of crises? The answer is nothing, absolutely nothing. The ICG is a body that exists to further the aims of its benefactors, which notably include NATO, the United States Government, and Israel.

Res Publica’s ‘About Us’ page also reveals(10) that Patel has consulted for the Rockefeller Foundation and the UN.

The fraudulent ‘humanitarian intervention’ concept is built upon atrocious lies and emotive propaganda peddled by these networks of closely interconnected ‘human rights’, ‘democracy promotion’, and ‘crisis prevention’ groups. Before having an emotional knee-jerk reaction to these issues, we must inspect the people behind these voices. Avaaz’s recent petition feverishly entitled “Protect Syria’s Children Now!” currently has over 780,000 signatures. Orwellian ‘human rights’ outfits such as Avaaz have become adept at manipulating well-meaning activists and liberals into supporting the very agenda they purport to oppose – placing them firmly in the same camp as the most virulent Zionists, Neoconservatives, and war hawks one can imagine. This makes the illusory nature of the left-right dichotomy clearer than ever before, but even more worryingly it expedites the march of the NATO-GCC-Israeli war machine that now has Syria in its crosshairs.

I have long suspected that Avaaz is not the organization it purports to be.
Last year i supported an online petition by Avaaz concerning the Palestinian cause.Within a few weeks of signing the petition i received a newsletter via e-mail from none other than the Israeli consulate from their embassy in London.These are still ongoing and i get one every couple of months or so.
Now i wonder who could have provided the Israeli embassy with my e-mail address?
So folks be careful out there…. By way of deception and all that…

# 9 June 2012 at 12:53

nit2am said:

@covkid, very interesting!

# 9 June 2012 at 12:55

Babylonian said:

How is George Soros a “zionist” ? He isn’t zionist at all as far as I know

All those Avaaz peititions, a smart way of finding out what subjects to use in deceiving people into demonstrating, if the Mighty States wants to change government in a country. Then there is simple, hire some snipers and there is soon a good reason for R2P.

# 10 June 2012 at 21:43

David Llewellyn Foster said:

Not too many surprises here, it’s ironic but then we should not forget Lord Acton’s oft quoted remark “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”

What we shall need is a petition site to hold petition sites accountable…checks and balances. The Internet if it survives, will evolve just like all human societies. As always, the core issues are governance, trust, transparency and intent. Who monitors the monitors? The most authentic systems of moral authority all share some common advice: examine your motives and regulate your life accordingly. Those who are incapable of doing so, need guidance…we used to call it education!

# 13 June 2012 at 04:13

Viola Carol said:

Most invalid information and well written…….Tnx

# 14 July 2012 at 08:18

James Del said:

Interesting view. So Israel is behind Avaaz? Strange how Avaaz has 1.8 million signatures on a petition they strongly promote that calls for the recognition of Palestine as a State at the UN recently. Israel vehemently opposed that recognitions. But this must be all a ruse. Your writer should check his agenda at the door when purporting to be ‘objective’. Facts speak louder than words. Check them. Then report.

Yes, yes, this is all just propaganda. Opposing Israel’s policy is supporting Israel’s policy. Of course! 1984. You have opened my eyes. Thank the gods for in-depth writing like yours!

“UN recognition of Palestine could help end 40 years of repression and lead to two states — Israel and Palestine — living in peace and security side by side. 1.6 million of us have signed on and helped get over 100 countries to support the bid! But Israel’s far-right government is lobbying hard and many countries are still on the fence.”

To James Del: Yes, Avaaz told its supporters to sign a petition calling for UN recognition of the State of Palestine. However, that issue had been in the news, so couldn’t be ignored by Avaaz. Fortunately for them, it was relatively risk-free, since the US could use its veto at the UN. Note that their call included vague language (“help end 40 years of repression”), the zionist conceit of “the two sides” (“two states — Israel and Palestine — living in peace and security side by side”), as if they have anything like equal strength, and the failure to note the theft of thousands of square kilometers of Palestinian land over the past 46 years. I think Mr. Iqbal’s case is strong.